Well, we are back in Kansas! So what now?
The traveling has paused for a bit, but that doesn’t mean that the process is over...or that we are going to stop writing about it! Throughout the next few weeks we are looking forward to posting about next steps in finishing up the project, upcoming release dates, and extra material such as videos and photos. So without further ado...
All along the trip, we had been kicking around an idea for one of our songs that finishes with a slowly building, repeated melody line. Though we loved the character that this particular section had taken on throughout the recording process, it still was needing an extra boost of energy at the end to take it where we wanted it to go.
To see what we could do with this part of the song, we asked a group of talented individuals (bribed with cookies) to come help us out for an evening by singing some back-up lines. Though the “choir” had never sang together before (they were all friends of ours who had been involved with us musically in some way or another over the past few years), they were up for the challenge of learning and experimenting with parts that could help give the song the intensity that was eluding us.
Let me just say that they all did great, but let’s be honest, the littlest choir member stole the show.
By the end of the evening, the group had given us lots of great material to work with, from strong unison melody lines to various combinations of harmonies. Now, we will take a look at each of the recordings and see which ones add the right combination of interest and drive to build up the song’s ending just right. It’s hard to say how many of these takes will make it on the final tracks, you might not even be able to put a finger on where the additional voices come in when you hear it! But it’s these details, the ones you would feel if they were missing, that are so gratifying to see coming together here at the end.
After all the hard work that has gone into writing, recording and editing so far, these backing vocals were the last raw material that was needed for our three songs. Next, we will add a few finishing touches and do some more intensive edits to pull all the pieces together exactly how we want them, then they’ll be mixed and mastered to get them ready for you guys to enjoy.
Thanks so much to our “choir” for helping us out on this project!
- L